Ask the Rabbi is a term used in Jewish newspapers and on Jewish websites for

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

, known as ''Shut'' (Hebrew: שו"ת, literally Q&A), the traditional term for correspondence with

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

s, usually on a

Halachic ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

basis. This phrase is often used in casual conversation in Hebrew pop culture.

Background and development

"Ask the Rabbi" is often used as an

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

term for ''

'': questions sent to rabbis and the answers received. The term became widespread on Jewish websites in the early 2000s.

Responsa in Judaism

Jewish religious literature contains thousands of books of responsa also known as ''Shut'' in Hebrew, which started during the time of the

Geonim ''Geonim'' ( he, גאונים; ; also transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of ...

and are popular to this day. The questions range over many topics, mostly about Jewish law (

Halacha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comman ...

), but also requests for an explanation of a

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

ic issue or Jewish thought. The answers may be short or long and very detailed. A large part of the correspondence is from rabbis, or community leaders, sending an important question to a great rabbi. Naturally, the questions asked in the past did not demand an immediate and urgent answer. The internet hosts several websites that feature rabbis answering questions received by

email Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...

, or

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

. The majority of online questions come from the general public, Jewish and non-Jewish, and cover many topics. The anonymity of the Internet allows for intimate questions they individuals may be too embarrassed to ask face to face. This way of answering is so popular, that some articles are based on them.

Comments and criticism

There has been some opposition to this phenomenon. The main criticism being the replacement of face-to-face communication by a virtual medium and the "instant" answers received to the questions. Judaism teaches the importance of study and work in order to gain knowledge, and it is claimed that the ease of asking via the Internet might promote disrepect towards the value of knowledge.

References

{{reflist

External links

Ask The Rabbi Official Website

Yeshiva.co: Ask the Rabbi

Aish.com: Ask the Rabbi

The Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative): Ask a Rabbi

Reform Judaism (Reform): Ask a Rabbi
Blogs about Jews and Judaism Internet slang Jewish media Judaism websites Rabbinic legal texts and responsa